When that first snow day of the school year comes, students are generally happy they can sleep in, then spend the day idling away the unexpected freedom however they please.

But now that spring is approaching, and the end of school, missed days are getting to be exasperating rather than fun. For each missed day means one more day into June that students will be sitting in the classroom.

For parents with small children, the missed days mean another day making arrangements for babysitting so they don’t have to miss work. In some cases, it does mean staying home from work and losing that day’s paycheck or a day’s vacation.

So far this winter, students have lost seven days to blizzards, extreme cold, and ice. Those missed days mean going to school until Thursday, June 6.

The two most recent lost days came Friday and Monday. Friday the area saw roads turn extremely slick as a freezing rain fell throughout the area, making travel hazardous. Monday, though only 3.5 inches of snow fell over night, winds howling out of the north 30 to 40 mph made travel on country roads difficult.